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  • Swad

    Darwin is dead.

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    In a move that doesn't surprise those who have kept up with the saga, Apple now appears to have fully ended the Darwin program of an open source OS X kernel. Although Darwin was essentially OS X without most of the things that make OS X great (streamlined UI, etc), it was a show of faith from Apple to the open source community. Many advanced users enjoyed tweaking the kernel for their own uses.
     
    It appears that those days are over. According to this MacWorld article,


    Thanks to pirates, or rather the fear of them, the Intel edition of Apple's OS X is now a proprietary operating system.
     
    Mac developers and power users no longer have the freedom to alter, rebuild, and replace the OS X kernel from source code. Stripped of openness, it no longer possesses the quality that elevated Linux to its status as the second most popular commercial OS.
     
    The Darwin open source Mach/Unix core shared by OS X Tiger client and OS X Tiger Server remains completely open for PowerPC Macs. If you have a G3, G4, or G5 Mac, you can hack your own Darwin kernel and use it to boot OS X. But if you have an Intel-based Mac desktop or notebook, your kernel and device drivers are inviolable. Apple still publishes the source code for OS X's commands and utilities and laudably goes several extra miles by open sourcing internally developed technologies such as QuickTime Streaming Server and Bonjour zero-config networking. The source code required to build a customised OS X kernel, however, is gone. Apple says that the state of an OS X-compatible open source x86 Darwin kernel is "in flux."
    We obviously know that piracy of the OSx86 kind is a new phenomenon to Apple. But does it really require the closing of its operating system?
  • Swad

    Quake II, Skype go universal

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    There are so many applications going Intel-native these days that it’s hard keep up with all of them (MacUpdate is good place to visit for doing so). Here are a few new ones that we found interesting.
     
    For those wanting to go back a little bit, you can now get your Quake II fix in full universal fashion. Like most of the game updates, you’ve got to have a copy of the PPC version to play. But hey, for an awesome late 90’s game, what do you expect?
     
    Also – and probably of more interest to our community – is that the new version of Skype is Intel-ready. With the new version you can, Forward calls to other Skype Names or regular phones, Pause iTunes automatically when you get a call, and get nice notifications with Growl.
     
    Try these out and let us know what you think!
  • sHARD>>

    Attack of the Clones!

    By sHARD>>, in OSx86,

    The Empire strikes back? It's been 9 years since the “death” of the Macintosh clones, but apparently they can't be killed. After seeing OSx86 for sale in Bangkok, it was only a matter of time before commercial pirates moved to the "hard" stuff. If Apple makes the big money on hardware, why shouldn't illegal cloners do too? Apparently they've caught on, selling such items as the "PowerPC G6 Macintosh", an "Apple G6 Macintosh-Clone Computer" with a 3.8GHz Pentium 4. Along with the fancy OSx86 compatible hardware, it comes pre-loaded with something the seller likes to call "Mac OSX-86 Apple MacOS X Tiger 10.4.3". A “low, low” price of $500 ensures plenty of sales.
     
    What's interesting to note here, beside the blatant disregard for copyright, trademark, and patent law, is the homegrown nature of these operations. What once was the domain of small South American and Chinese factories is now the realm of home PC builders. This represents quite a shift from the old business model, and it's probably time Apple started worrying about it. With the simplicity and anonymity of the internet, operations are here and gone in a few days. There's the potential to sell thousands.
     
    As you may notice, we refrain from linking to this material as we continue on our mission to prevent piracy. Clones represent the worst of theft, giving their perpetrators thousands in undue monetary gain. Rest assured, suppliers are out there.
     
    All this leaves us with an important question: When Steve Jobs first re-joined Apple, the clones were dead. When will we see a return of the jedi?
  • Metrogirl
    Silicon.com reported yesterday on this week's hack of Apple's Korean online store. According to the article here the hacker managed to get admin rights on a Mac OSX server running Apache.
     
    Although Apple have infuriated the public by refusing to comment, there is no suggestion that customer data may have been compromised or fraudulent transactions processed.
     
    In other reports, speculation about security vulnerabilities in OSX server, Apache, and Apple's trading model, which is apparently consistent across the world, have sparked renewed interest in Apple's 'holier than thou' policy. Particularly interesting is the company's almost proprietary response to incidents like this, pretending that nothing has happened and everything is as clean and white as the glossy plastic machines they sell. As one commentator states, "Mud sticks, but it's particularly obvious on a white surface".
     
    Although the hacker has not given details of the vulnerability which gave him access to deface the server, there is a good possibility that the same issue faces all Apple's web stores. Doubtless armies of Apple staff are fixing it even as you read this.
  • Swad
    El Reg is reporting that Intel’s dual core offerings are so successful that they’re bumping up production. Good news for those who can't wait for Merom!
     
    According to the article,


    Intel will begin producing more dual-core chips than single-core parts this quarter, the chip giant has revealed. Indeed, by the end of 2006, 90 per cent of the mobile CPUs it produces will be dual-core chips, rather more than the company previously forecast.
     
    In the past, Intel has said it will go into 2007 with "over 70 per cent" of its mobile processor production taken up by dual-core offerings - primarily the current, 'Yonah' Core Duos, but also some next-generation 'Merom' parts too. But with the accelerated Merom release schedule announced last week - the chip will debut this coming August instead of some time in Q4 - Intel hopes its single-core to dual-core transition will gain a significant boost.
  • munky

    Aperture's future in doubt?

    By munky, in OSx86,

    ThinkSecret is reporting that Apple have dismissed or reassigned many of the engineers which formed its Aperture team.
     
    Despite a sizeable marketing campaign, and plenty of hype, Aperture was released last November to mixed reviews. Respected tech site Ars Technica concluded "At this stage Aperture is a big, expensive misfire and considering the hefty price tag, I can't think of a reason to recommend it."
     
    Apple recently released v1.1 of Aperture, which addressed many of the more glaring flaws of 1.0, and also dropped the price tag from $499 to $299, and offered existing users a $200 Apple Store coupon - some say a concession to the poor quality of 1.0
     
    If Think Secret's sources are to be beleived, the image processing engine was taken away from the Aperture team some time ago, and handed to the Shake and Motion teams to salvage 'as best they can'. This work is alleged to be the foundation of the 1.1 release.
     
    What do you think? Is Aperture worth saving? Should a new engineering team be formed for 2.0, or should the thing just go the way of the cube - an expensive, pretty flop.
  • Swad

    Pimp my Parallels

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    Ok, so you know how you've always wished that you could switch between OS X and XP with that cool little cube effect in OS X? Well, ok, maybe that's not at the top of your priority list... but if it is you're in luck.
     
    A developer has created a sweet little add-on to the Parallels virtualization software to allow users to change operating systems without sacrificing the eye candy. Best of all, it's open source.
     
    The developer has apparently offered to give Parallels the code - GPL free - to incorporate into the final release of Parallels. As per this thread in their forum, the Parallels developers have something like this in the works for "the next public version."
     
    Just another one of those great OS X tricks you can use to wow your PC friends...
     

  • Swad
    What would you like to see in the next generation of our site?
     
    Like many of you, the staff of this site has some exciting plans for this summer. But instead of hitting the beach (which we may also do), a lot of our energy is going to be devoted to updating and upgrading this site.
     
    We’ve got some great ideas – like a renovated (and innovative) news section and a new skin – but we need your input!
     
    What are some of the things you like about the current way the site is? What are some features you’d like to see us add?
     
    Your ideas greatly help us in the direction we take the site. Thanks!
  • Swad

    Where is Maxxuss?

    By Swad, in OSx86,

    Maxxuss has disappeared. The sites he once updated with patches and materials are either outdated or offline. He has not visited our forum since March 18th. Letters are left unresponsive. It seems the man who was rapidly building his name as one of our time's most notorious hackers is simply gone.
     
    So what happened? There have been several times in the past when he has been dormant or otherwise quiet – in these cases, we haven’t reported on it since it is normal for there to be a lull in the action. Sensationalism is something we try to keep to a minimum.
     
    But this is more than an extended vacation. OS X 10.4.6 has come and gone… yet no word from the once-resident OSx86 hacker. Indeed, others have now taken his place in releasing patches for the new builds.
     
    There are a few possibilities. It’s conceivable (although somewhat unlikely) that he simply decided to leave the hacking of OS X on PCs to others. He also could have been hired by Apple. Or sued. Or jailed.
     
    What’s most surprising is that we have heard nothing in so long. Granted, hiring and arresting are both good reasons to break communications, but the whole situation is somewhat odd. We haven’t even heard anything about his other hacking exploits, like we did when he broke the Skype-Intel collusion.
     
    So wither Maxxuss? Who knows. He is a sterling example of a controversial figure – a Robin Hood loved by many and hated by some.
     
    While the debate about your work rages on, Maxxuss, here’s hoping this article finds you well.
     
    [Digg it!]
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